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France: Thousands of protesters in Paris call for more ambitious climate law

Thousands of people demonstrated today at Paris calling for a more ambitious climate law, while there are doubts about the referendum that President Emanuel Macron wanted to include in the fight against climate change in the Constitution of the country.

The demonstrators, gathered behind a banner that read “Climate law = failure of the five-year term”, marched between Republic Square and Bastille Square in the capital.

Emanuel Macron had pledged before the members of the Citizens’ Convention on Climate Change (CCC) to send to the deputies their proposals for the amendment of article 1 of the Constitution.

This randomly selected committee of 150 people was set up in 2019 to speak to citizens on the issue of combating climate change.

The text was approved in March by the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, where Emanuel Macron has a large majority.

The bill states, in Article 1 of the Constitution, that France “guarantees the protection of the environment and biodiversity and the fight against climate change”.

However, the majority of the Senate rejects the term “guarantee” because it believes that this term can give the protection of the environment a form of priority over other constitutional principles.

Against the reservations of the Senate, which is dominated by the opposition and which is expected to consider the wording of the bill from tomorrow, Monday, the Journal du Dimanche writes that the president resigned from the vote. The text must indeed be voted on the same terms by both houses in order to be subject to a referendum.

As much as the French presidency has asserted that the measure “is not buried in any way”, environmentalists, left-wing parties and unions, who protested today to denounce “a missed climate deal”, saw it as further evidence of its decline. complaining government.

The lack of ambition is symbolized for them by the law “climate and resilience” that was adopted on Tuesday by the deputies. This text was to reflect some of the committee’s 149 proposals, which were drawn up by Emanuel Macron outlining proposals for concrete measures to reduce French greenhouse gas emissions by 40%, “in the spirit of social justice”.

Many former members of the commission (CCC) called for these “marches” after the law was passed, following a first successful mobilization in late March: 110,000 protesters in France, according to organizers, 44,000 according to police.

“We will continue to denounce the ambition of the climate law and, as of this morning, the almost certain abandonment of the referendum, which is another step backwards,” CCC member Cyril Dion told the procession.

Demonstrations or rallies were to take place today in more than 150 cities in France.

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